Former Technical Director Confident He Will Return To His Former Post

Former Technical Director of British Cycling, Shane Sutton, is ‘confident’ that he will return to the post he resigned from in April as the organisation looks to expand its staff with a performance director and new chief executive.

This news comes after current CEO Ian Drake announced he was leaving British Cycling in April. The favourite to gain the performance director role lays with Sara Symington, a former Team GB rider.

However, opinion is divided as to whether Sutton should return to the fold after his resignation in April following accusations by top athletes over his behaviour, Jess Varnish saying he told her to, ‘go and have a baby‘.

Sutton told the Telegraph, “I’d like to think they would ask me to reconsider my resignation. I resigned when I did to take the heat off the team 100 days out from the Olympic Games. But I totally refute the claims.”

Sutton would be welcomed back by Sir Bradley Wiggins who told the Telegraph in June

“Selfishly, from a personal point of view, we [the men’s endurance squad] had nothing to do with Shane since he took the sort of blazer office job, he wasn’t around in the track centre any more. And the day it all happened, when it all hit the fan, we went to the US for a month and missed the whole mass hysteria phase.

“When we came back it was all about new bikes and it had all blown over that storm. So from a team pursuit point of view we haven’t really noticed it – he was here one day and out the next – but it’s been noticed higher up the chain. The office is quieter now.”

“I’ve had a couple of texts from him. Shane was the first to text me and say ‘I’m still concerned about this from a performance point of view.’ Or ‘You’ve got to get Burkey [Steven Burke] out of the pub’.

“Just wanting to know how the group’s going, or when we were in America how the training camp had gone. I think at the heart of it all he still loves the performance stuff really and I guess that was his downfall, going up the chain.

“His greatest asset was coaching and I think everyone has said that. He’s the best coach in the world probably.”

The re-hiring of Sutton would come at a time where British Cycling is under intense scrutiny due to investigations by UK Anti-Doping earlier in the month. But with all the accusations surrounding him, it seems that his re-appointment would bring further pressure upon the organisation.

About the Author:Luke is a second year Sports Journalism student at the University of Huddersfield who heads out on the trails whenever he gets home. You can follow him on twitter here.